


take me home (to the place i belong)

by green_tea31



Series: Cairo Day 2019 [4]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Cairo Day 2019, Desi's POV, Established Relationship, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Future Fic, M/M, Mac isn't allowed to do science when sick, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 17:37:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18428876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/green_tea31/pseuds/green_tea31
Summary: Desi stops short of entering the room because she doesn’t want to disturb them in case Mac is sleeping. Jack is sitting on the edge of the bed, back towards the door and she recognizes it as the gesture of trust it is. He wouldn’t stay like that if he didn’t trust the people in this house implicitly because the instinct of facing the door in whatever room you’re in is almost impossible to shake after a lifetime of covert work.(In which Mac is sick and a hazard to innocent electrical appliances. The team takes care of him and Desi figures out something important.)





	take me home (to the place i belong)

**Author's Note:**

> This fic takes place in some nebulous future where everyone is happy and nothing hurts. It's also the first full macdalton, like actual relationship I wrote for Cairo Day. 
> 
> Aka, this author is still on her mission to make her readers like Desi even if it kills her. Seriously, tumblr is tearing itself apart and I just want to shake my head and tell people "Stop taking it out on the characters and actors, be angry at CBS and Peter Lenkov, they're the ones making the actual decisions." Also, am I the only one way more annoyed at all the screen time Mac has with his Dad now? Seriously, I cringed my way through a lot of 3.18.
> 
> But enough of that, this is for the Cairo Day prompt "Sickfic". I have one more oneshot for tomorrow and then nothing on Saturday, but a fic that I call "how did this get so freaking long" in my head for Sunday. Fair warning, though. That one is very macdalton and involves Desi as well. 
> 
> As always, self-betaed. All mistakes are my own.
> 
> Title from "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver.

“What the hell is going on here?” Desi asks while carefully navigating the mess littering the ground from the door to the kitchen. Most of it looks like parts of taken-apart electrical appliances, she’s pretty sure she can spot at least one deceased toaster in between all the other parts but that doesn’t explain what it’s doing on the ground.

“Someone,” Bozer begins as she’s putting down her bags on the counter, “someone didn’t do his job right,” He finishes and glares at Jack who looks up with a grimace from where he’s stirring something in a pot.

“Hey, man. You know how he gets when he’s like this. All squirrely and stuff. I turned around for maybe one second and he’s killed the toaster and a radio.” Jack takes the pot off the stove and pours a generous amount of what Desi now recognizes as chicken soup into a bowl.

“Okay, I think he’s staying put for now,” Riley says, coming into the kitchen. “I’m going to start on cleaning this up, you bring him the soup and sit on him if necessary,” She directs Jack who takes the bowl and a bottle of water out of the fridge and vanishes towards their shared bedroom.

Desi starts unpacking her bag, handing off the various foods and beverages to Bozer.

“I’m guessing Mac is sick?” She asks with a frown. With Jack back from his taskforce and after he and Mac finally figured out this thing between them, Desi and Jack have started sharing the burden in the field which frees both of them up to occasionally work on other ops or, in Jack’s case, work with Matty on more administrative stuff. Of course, since Mac has pretty effectively slid himself into Desi’s category of _protect_ and possibly _little brother_ as well, she worries.

She was done with worrying when Jack reached out to her, trust these crazy people to get behind her defences anyway.

Having Jack back also means that it’s a lot easier to do her job when they’re all in the field together because Desi knows she’s good at her job but the sheer _energy_ needed to look after their genius, Riley, and Bozer all at once was getting to her and she was half afraid she’d die of a heart attack before turning forty some days.

Also, Jack likes to complain that he isn’t getting any younger and he needs to keep up his energy for his hot young husband. And while Desi could have done without that mental image, thank you very much _Jack_ , if Matty isn’t grooming Jack to take over her job after Oversight retires, Desi is eating her least favourite gun.

She’s definitely going to have to start looking for additional backup soon because no way is she going back to being the only one with a gun.

“Man, is he ever,” Bozer moans and slumps back against the counter. “You know that huge brain and razor-sharp mind of his?” Desi nods. “Yeah, not so sharp when he’s sick. Mac is explicitly forbidden from doing anything science or engineering related when sick, but…”

Riley snickers while carefully cleaning up the mess on the ground. “Not that he remembers that when he’s sick.”

Desi can’t quite suppress a grin at the mental image. She’s seen Mac loopy on painkillers and anaesthetics over the years but he was always clear-headed enough to _think_. She can’t quite imagine a not-thinking Mac.

“Was he always like this,” She asks Bozer who rolls his eyes.

“Oh yeah. Mac’s always been a public health hazard when sick. Imagine his usual crazy in the field but none of the regard for his safety.” Desi shudders to think of the possibility given that’s Mac’s regard for his safety is shaky at best and non-existent at worst.

Bozer removes a teabag from a mug she hadn’t noticed before and holds it out to her. “Mind bringing this to Mac? I’m going to help Riley deal with the mess."

She smiles at Bozer and takes the mug, making her way towards the bedroom that had once been Mac’s and which he now shares with Jack.

Desi stops short of entering the room because she doesn’t want to disturb them in case Mac is sleeping. Jack is sitting on the edge of the bed, back towards the door and she recognizes it as the gesture of trust it is. He wouldn’t stay like that if he didn’t trust the people in this house implicitly because the instinct of facing the door in whatever room you’re in is almost impossible to shake after a lifetime of covert work.

“M’ head hurts,” Mac mumbles from under the covers and Jack tugs them a bit higher.

“I know darlin’. I promise it’ll be better soon.” Jack turns to her. “Hey, look who’s there and she comes bearing tea.” He motions for her to join them.

“Who’s it?” Mac asks, voice raspy and Desi steps closer, handing the mug to Jack.

“It’s me, Mac,” She says, watching as a slow smile spreads over his face. Mac tries to sit up and Jack helps him until he’s leaning against the headboard, slowly sipping his tea.

“I’m glad you’re back safe,” Mac tells her and Desi can’t help but smile at the sentiment. She likes the feeling that there are people who care if she makes it back or not.

Mac hands the mug back to Jack who brushes a few sweaty strands of hair out of Mac’s face and looks at his husband like there’s nowhere else in the world he’d rather be. The strangely intimate moment makes her feel like an intruder and Desi starts turning around to leave them to their privacy when Mac’s voice stops her.

“Hey, Desi. Stay a while. I don’t think I could sleep anymore and I wanted to ask how the new comms design worked out.”

“Yeah, and you can tell me if Haller finally got over his gun-shyness or if we're gonna have to work with him some more before letting him back in the field,” Jack adds. Desi turns back towards their expectant faces and it feels like something's shifted, like she finally figured out her place in this little makeshift family now that the person she was originally sent to replace made his way back to them.

She takes the chair next to Mac’s desk and tells them about her mission.

It’s good to be home.                          

**Author's Note:**

> In my head, Bozer lives with Leanna and is about to propose to her but she does it first. Desi will reach out to Samantha Cage and convince her to return to the Phoenix and, after Matty becomes Oversight and Jack takes over as Director, Mac will go into the field with not one, but two overprotective older sisters watching out for him.  
> The End.


End file.
